First of all, sympathies and best wishes to all persecuted people all over the world.
Belonging to an ethnic minority, I know the pains of of not belonging to a high and mighty majority. Still, we need to see clearly the difference between the wily, cunning Burmese government who would use the most nefarious means possible to remain in power and the down-trodden Bamar and other nationalities, whatever religion they belong to, who do not fare much better than Rohingyas.
I don’t know where Ms Hudson-Rodd got the idea “President Thein Sein and other Burmese Government members, welcomed around the world, continue a well-orchestrated, well-documented plan to destroy every aspect of Rohingya men”.
Let me assure you, neither Thein Sein nor any military government to come has any plan to do anything apart from bleeding Burma to extract all the wealth she can offer and perpetuating military into the millennia.
For the present non-government, to cling to power, it is game to ignore the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people, their own flesh and blood, in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis (2008)and many such disasters, some man-made, e.g. wholesale destruction of the Waw township in Bago division and deaths of thousands of people in the flood following the breach of a poorly constructed dam.
Myanmar is unfortunately abound with such tragedies through the intentional neglect of the yellow-bellied military stooges who put down their own people mercilessly for merely protesting peacefully about commodity prices. When it comes to conflict with even pathetically incompetent Bangladesh army, they do not even have the gall to reclaim their captured soldiers, three, who are to date in the hands of extremists possibly supported by Bengali authorities.
They they apologised and handed over a non-uniformed, ragtag fighter captured by them and claimed by the Bangladesh military to be their own soldier.
Also, for their own survival, they are sounding positive notes on the front of religious and racial differences while slinging mud on the opposition leader as being “kalar-ma”, and getting voters away from her and, worst of all, inciting religious riots (there are plenty of evidences)using their henchmen and putting the blame on the others.
Difficult as it is to understand the mindset of the present, illegitimate government who cheated their way to power, having bound and gagged any dissenter, literally and metaphorically, we need to read between the lines to get the real picture.
So, Ms Hudson-Rodd, you need to see the complete picture before jumping to conclusion and becoming a Rohingya-apologist. These are people who, with the aid of increasingly Islamist states and extremist groups,are beginning to encroach on lands not their own and trying to impose values not accepted here.
We are not going to have the like of killing done in broad day-light of a British soldier by youths who turned radical here in Myanmar.
The one-sided nature of this article, as rightly pointed out by Plan B, has done nothing to add to your credibility as a responsible and informed writer.
Nope. It is because we ‘ve seen what he has done his best to improve Thailand to be self-sustainable country. He aims best for the country. Thais are not stupid. ^ _ ^
Yes, Chris. Rose doesn’t even care if what she does has affected her family or loved ones. People can think differently and can express freely. I had worked with the company that is also partially owned by the Royal family. When Thailand had tsunami, the KING donated and asked the company to build hundreds houses for people for FREE! Importantly, he didn’t even broadcast this. Thais are not stupid. We are not brainwashed. I also have friends whose families get special treats from Taksin. My friends can fly to London every week for soccer games, has more than 20 luxury cars. Anyway, please do a research!
Thanks for sharing your op-ed on Lao civil society. It is truly a conundrum for the West, how to cooperate without doing harm or getting kicked out.
While there are many problems with the Lao development sector, I think its a bit too easy to always point the finger at IGO bad guys. Without the participation of Western donors and investors, Laos would likely become a defacto Chinese territory (FDI from the West is a drop in the bucket compared to #1 China, #2 Vietnam and #3 Thailand). What happened to civil society in Tibet or North Korea? Are they better off? If Western friendly IGOs and NGOs departed Lao, the country would be completely under the sphere of influence of Vietnam and China, in which civil society in Laos would not even be a discussion point anymore. Self preservation is an acceptable tactic in Lao, things move slowly and you have to survive to see outcomes.
The best way IGOs can influence Laotian politics is to restrict the donor money, but then there would have to be some kind of embargo on Laos, and that would hurt local people, and turn their loyalties elsewhere.
At the end of the day it is up to Lao people to collectively change their lives, meddling foreigners will always have a bias, propping up this or that elite group that is sympathetic to their cause.
Thailand can’t be compared with the North Korea. Thai people live happily before the Taksin regime. Thailand has never been colonized by the West. Yes, it is because we have kings. Please research more of the Thai history.
As a development economist, I would argue that if there was A good agricultural policy for developing countries, they would be the first to know and would all implement it. The rice scheme had its problems (it was costly and as it did in the EU in the 1970’s, 80’s, could have lead to surproduction). Subsidies to farmers depending on size (number of rai) has its own problems too (again, ask europeans about it….): a market analysis would show that it can decrease incentive to be cost-effective. Subsidies to producers are usually not welcome by liberals who favour “market-driven” policies (not that I am one of them). As for providing soft loans, this has been done many times before (including by Thaksin’s government). So this is continuity rather than innovation from Prayuth’s team.
Overall, the general idea seems solid but I have some doubts on implementation:
– the 500 baht per rai will not be given in cash but in cultivation materials. This makes me really worried: how is this going to work concretely? Are they going to distribute seeds? fertilizers? How will they know what seeds and fertilizers are better fitted for each field? What if some fields do not need fertilizers, while other farmers grow rice on fields which yield low and need a lot of chemical fertilizers? This could lead to waste, and environmental problem, specially since the levels of corruption in Thailand casts doubt on how the type of materials/fertilizers/seeds will be selected (past events have shown that the army is really not good at casting commercial deals even in its own expertise of weapons, so I cannot imagine when it comes to agricultural products..)
And I am not even mentionning the justification given for refusing to distribute cash : “the NCPO doubted farmers would spend the money on rice cultivation”. Probably because the NCPO thinks farmers are a bunch of drunken people who party all day long.
Avoiding cash distribution would seem nice at first sight, because one might think it would avoid corruption (local officials taking a bit of the amount given by the national office). But in fact, corruption will only be taking place at other levels and arrive in other people’s pocket: some could recieve commissions in negociating with the cultivation material industry. Many development studies comparing aid programs in cash and in-kind reveal that corruption levels do not differ in both case: but corruption happens at different levels and benefits different types of people, that is all.
So in the end, the policy may work, but implementation will be crucial to evaluate its effects.
Moreover, besides agriculture, the junta seems to be at a loss: their infrastructure project is way below what was proposed initially. The economy is in recession and I still don’t see any macroeconomic plan to tackle it.
Tourism is at its lowest and does not seem ready to recover, specially given the bad image created by human rights violations.
There is also no clear development plan in the long term. Problem is, Thailand really needs to increase human capital if they want to upgrade their economic specialisation. And education reforms are really not taking a good direction.
It rather seem to me that the junta is going to implement short-term policies according to their “populist” agenda or importance in the public debate.
I fear economic policy is going to be a tool of the propaganda program, rather than a tool for economic development. But I may be wrong.
In fairness, that is not really surprising. Most people would waste money if they had too much of it. Imagine the parties they have… What are they gonna do? Stop using their position in society to accumulate unnecessary wealth? Power and wealth corrupts everywhere, not just Thailand.
Yes, Britain is a free country. I, a British citizen, can say ANYTHING, directly to my Queen’s face so long as I don’t threaten her (which is, quite rightly, illegal to do to anyone). In fact, in Britain ANYONE (we make no distinction between foreigners rights and native rights) is allowed to openly consider the benefits of monarchy and republicanism in public without fear of anything from anyone. That is freedom of speech. A society cannot be free without it.
Thailand safe for foreigners ?? Well 180,000+ Cambodians don’t seem to agree as they have just fled the country.
Rather Thailand is safe for the rich i.e. billionaires all the way down to the tourists who have the time and money to be able to travel here. Certainly not for the poor.
And who likes democracy? Perhaps those business moguls who have a majority of their boards comprising directors elected by the workforce. Is Mr.Heinecke one of them or are there any at all in Thailand?
New flash! Pravuit just approved 12 trillion bhat of BOI investment fund to the most wealthy companies in Thailand, including Charern Pakaphan (C.P.)and Toyota Motor. This move along exceeded the amont spent for one season of Yingluck’ rice pledging scheme. By the way, the junta approved 5.9 million baht subsidy for rubber farmer just last week. I’m not too sure how long tseh country can support such spending sphree.
“Can british citizen say would like to kick the queen and royal family out of britain then?”…
I’m always astonished when Thais say things like this, when even a tiny bit of research will show them that the answer is “yes”.
Lots and lots of British people have called for the royal family to be kicked out of Britain, and no legal action has ever been taken against them, at least in the last 100 years or so. You might want to check out Wikipedia, or the lyrics of the Sex Pistols 1979 hit song <God Save the Queen, which says of Her Majesty that “she ain’t no human being” and that she is the head of a “fascist regime”; or this article in a London-based webzine: “How the royal family is destroying Britain” that describes the royal family as a “corrupt, anti-democratic collective of glorified social security spongers [and] parasites”.
“Do you think it’s fair for the royal family that you can say the bad thing to them and they could not say anything back to you?”: it’s not like the Thai monarchy doesn’t have defenders. Lots and lots of Thais have said very bad things back to Thai Rose.
As for this being a “human rights” or “hate speech” issue, you’re kidding, right? I’m pretty sure His Majesty isn’t losing any sleep worrying about the horrible horrible things Thai Rose is saying about him.
The President of the United States is often called the Leader of the Free World. I know of no other leader from any other country that holds that title. Of course, it is not a real title, but it it is often used to this day. You can look it up.
But let me tell you an un-Thai story. I recall the story from a comedian who worked in the USA. He would tell jokes about then president Ronald Reagan. He would also tell a lot of jokes about one of the colorful gangsters in the town he worked. He had a regular gig, and started to notice some people discreetly sitting in club that didn’t look like the usual patrons of the club. Finally after one show, one of them came up to him and told him that they didn’t appreciate the jokes about their leader (the street gang banger), and told them to stop, with some other gentle “suggestions”.
The comic remarked that he could make jokes about the leader of the free world but not about a common gangster.
No, I don’t think so. Unless, you are contemplating a Golkar 2.0 scenario. A manageable bureaucracy would be an achievement in itself. Indonesia is not just Jakarta (Jokowi), nor is it the TNI alone (Prabowo). Those are small subsets of Indonesia’s larger bureaucracy. A better one will be nearly impossible with the endemic corruption that has plagued Indonesia for 70 years. When the Zookeepers are as savage as their captive subjects, what incentives are there for keeping the cages clean, and the subjects, well-fed and well-behaved ? If money and titles alone sufficed, Jakarta would be run as well as Copenhagen.
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Thorns of the Thai rose
So,
there it is:
Red shirt, bad; yellow short good. Please, don’t you think it is all a little bit more than that?
Rohingya: denied the right to be human
First of all, sympathies and best wishes to all persecuted people all over the world.
Belonging to an ethnic minority, I know the pains of of not belonging to a high and mighty majority. Still, we need to see clearly the difference between the wily, cunning Burmese government who would use the most nefarious means possible to remain in power and the down-trodden Bamar and other nationalities, whatever religion they belong to, who do not fare much better than Rohingyas.
I don’t know where Ms Hudson-Rodd got the idea “President Thein Sein and other Burmese Government members, welcomed around the world, continue a well-orchestrated, well-documented plan to destroy every aspect of Rohingya men”.
Let me assure you, neither Thein Sein nor any military government to come has any plan to do anything apart from bleeding Burma to extract all the wealth she can offer and perpetuating military into the millennia.
For the present non-government, to cling to power, it is game to ignore the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people, their own flesh and blood, in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis (2008)and many such disasters, some man-made, e.g. wholesale destruction of the Waw township in Bago division and deaths of thousands of people in the flood following the breach of a poorly constructed dam.
Myanmar is unfortunately abound with such tragedies through the intentional neglect of the yellow-bellied military stooges who put down their own people mercilessly for merely protesting peacefully about commodity prices. When it comes to conflict with even pathetically incompetent Bangladesh army, they do not even have the gall to reclaim their captured soldiers, three, who are to date in the hands of extremists possibly supported by Bengali authorities.
They they apologised and handed over a non-uniformed, ragtag fighter captured by them and claimed by the Bangladesh military to be their own soldier.
Also, for their own survival, they are sounding positive notes on the front of religious and racial differences while slinging mud on the opposition leader as being “kalar-ma”, and getting voters away from her and, worst of all, inciting religious riots (there are plenty of evidences)using their henchmen and putting the blame on the others.
Difficult as it is to understand the mindset of the present, illegitimate government who cheated their way to power, having bound and gagged any dissenter, literally and metaphorically, we need to read between the lines to get the real picture.
So, Ms Hudson-Rodd, you need to see the complete picture before jumping to conclusion and becoming a Rohingya-apologist. These are people who, with the aid of increasingly Islamist states and extremist groups,are beginning to encroach on lands not their own and trying to impose values not accepted here.
We are not going to have the like of killing done in broad day-light of a British soldier by youths who turned radical here in Myanmar.
The one-sided nature of this article, as rightly pointed out by Plan B, has done nothing to add to your credibility as a responsible and informed writer.
Thorns of the Thai rose
Long live the King!
Thorns of the Thai rose
lese majeste law still applies in many countries in the world.
Thorns of the Thai rose
Nope. It is because we ‘ve seen what he has done his best to improve Thailand to be self-sustainable country. He aims best for the country. Thais are not stupid. ^ _ ^
Thorns of the Thai rose
Yes, Chris. Rose doesn’t even care if what she does has affected her family or loved ones. People can think differently and can express freely. I had worked with the company that is also partially owned by the Royal family. When Thailand had tsunami, the KING donated and asked the company to build hundreds houses for people for FREE! Importantly, he didn’t even broadcast this. Thais are not stupid. We are not brainwashed. I also have friends whose families get special treats from Taksin. My friends can fly to London every week for soccer games, has more than 20 luxury cars. Anyway, please do a research!
The decline of Lao civil society
Thanks for sharing your op-ed on Lao civil society. It is truly a conundrum for the West, how to cooperate without doing harm or getting kicked out.
While there are many problems with the Lao development sector, I think its a bit too easy to always point the finger at IGO bad guys. Without the participation of Western donors and investors, Laos would likely become a defacto Chinese territory (FDI from the West is a drop in the bucket compared to #1 China, #2 Vietnam and #3 Thailand). What happened to civil society in Tibet or North Korea? Are they better off? If Western friendly IGOs and NGOs departed Lao, the country would be completely under the sphere of influence of Vietnam and China, in which civil society in Laos would not even be a discussion point anymore. Self preservation is an acceptable tactic in Lao, things move slowly and you have to survive to see outcomes.
The best way IGOs can influence Laotian politics is to restrict the donor money, but then there would have to be some kind of embargo on Laos, and that would hurt local people, and turn their loyalties elsewhere.
At the end of the day it is up to Lao people to collectively change their lives, meddling foreigners will always have a bias, propping up this or that elite group that is sympathetic to their cause.
Thorns of the Thai rose
Tarrin,
Thailand can’t be compared with the North Korea. Thai people live happily before the Taksin regime. Thailand has never been colonized by the West. Yes, it is because we have kings. Please research more of the Thai history.
Seven questions for Thailand’s military
As a development economist, I would argue that if there was A good agricultural policy for developing countries, they would be the first to know and would all implement it. The rice scheme had its problems (it was costly and as it did in the EU in the 1970’s, 80’s, could have lead to surproduction). Subsidies to farmers depending on size (number of rai) has its own problems too (again, ask europeans about it….): a market analysis would show that it can decrease incentive to be cost-effective. Subsidies to producers are usually not welcome by liberals who favour “market-driven” policies (not that I am one of them). As for providing soft loans, this has been done many times before (including by Thaksin’s government). So this is continuity rather than innovation from Prayuth’s team.
Overall, the general idea seems solid but I have some doubts on implementation:
– the 500 baht per rai will not be given in cash but in cultivation materials. This makes me really worried: how is this going to work concretely? Are they going to distribute seeds? fertilizers? How will they know what seeds and fertilizers are better fitted for each field? What if some fields do not need fertilizers, while other farmers grow rice on fields which yield low and need a lot of chemical fertilizers? This could lead to waste, and environmental problem, specially since the levels of corruption in Thailand casts doubt on how the type of materials/fertilizers/seeds will be selected (past events have shown that the army is really not good at casting commercial deals even in its own expertise of weapons, so I cannot imagine when it comes to agricultural products..)
And I am not even mentionning the justification given for refusing to distribute cash : “the NCPO doubted farmers would spend the money on rice cultivation”. Probably because the NCPO thinks farmers are a bunch of drunken people who party all day long.
Avoiding cash distribution would seem nice at first sight, because one might think it would avoid corruption (local officials taking a bit of the amount given by the national office). But in fact, corruption will only be taking place at other levels and arrive in other people’s pocket: some could recieve commissions in negociating with the cultivation material industry. Many development studies comparing aid programs in cash and in-kind reveal that corruption levels do not differ in both case: but corruption happens at different levels and benefits different types of people, that is all.
So in the end, the policy may work, but implementation will be crucial to evaluate its effects.
Moreover, besides agriculture, the junta seems to be at a loss: their infrastructure project is way below what was proposed initially. The economy is in recession and I still don’t see any macroeconomic plan to tackle it.
Tourism is at its lowest and does not seem ready to recover, specially given the bad image created by human rights violations.
There is also no clear development plan in the long term. Problem is, Thailand really needs to increase human capital if they want to upgrade their economic specialisation. And education reforms are really not taking a good direction.
It rather seem to me that the junta is going to implement short-term policies according to their “populist” agenda or importance in the public debate.
I fear economic policy is going to be a tool of the propaganda program, rather than a tool for economic development. But I may be wrong.
A better bureaucracy?
what would you suggest then?
Thorns of the Thai rose
Wassy ” Yes of course we have a freedom to speech”
Mr. Wassy, if you are Thai, then I hate to burst your ego, but no, you do not have freedom of speech.
Thorns of the Thai rose
In fairness, that is not really surprising. Most people would waste money if they had too much of it. Imagine the parties they have… What are they gonna do? Stop using their position in society to accumulate unnecessary wealth? Power and wealth corrupts everywhere, not just Thailand.
Thorns of the Thai rose
Yes, Britain is a free country. I, a British citizen, can say ANYTHING, directly to my Queen’s face so long as I don’t threaten her (which is, quite rightly, illegal to do to anyone). In fact, in Britain ANYONE (we make no distinction between foreigners rights and native rights) is allowed to openly consider the benefits of monarchy and republicanism in public without fear of anything from anyone. That is freedom of speech. A society cannot be free without it.
Mr. Heinecke cannot have his coup and eat it too
Thailand safe for foreigners ?? Well 180,000+ Cambodians don’t seem to agree as they have just fled the country.
Rather Thailand is safe for the rich i.e. billionaires all the way down to the tourists who have the time and money to be able to travel here. Certainly not for the poor.
And who likes democracy? Perhaps those business moguls who have a majority of their boards comprising directors elected by the workforce. Is Mr.Heinecke one of them or are there any at all in Thailand?
Seven questions for Thailand’s military
New flash! Pravuit just approved 12 trillion bhat of BOI investment fund to the most wealthy companies in Thailand, including Charern Pakaphan (C.P.)and Toyota Motor. This move along exceeded the amont spent for one season of Yingluck’ rice pledging scheme. By the way, the junta approved 5.9 million baht subsidy for rubber farmer just last week. I’m not too sure how long tseh country can support such spending sphree.
Thorns of the Thai rose
“Can british citizen say would like to kick the queen and royal family out of britain then?”…
I’m always astonished when Thais say things like this, when even a tiny bit of research will show them that the answer is “yes”.
Lots and lots of British people have called for the royal family to be kicked out of Britain, and no legal action has ever been taken against them, at least in the last 100 years or so. You might want to check out Wikipedia, or the lyrics of the Sex Pistols 1979 hit song <God Save the Queen, which says of Her Majesty that “she ain’t no human being” and that she is the head of a “fascist regime”; or this article in a London-based webzine: “How the royal family is destroying Britain” that describes the royal family as a “corrupt, anti-democratic collective of glorified social security spongers [and] parasites”.
“Do you think it’s fair for the royal family that you can say the bad thing to them and they could not say anything back to you?”: it’s not like the Thai monarchy doesn’t have defenders. Lots and lots of Thais have said very bad things back to Thai Rose.
As for this being a “human rights” or “hate speech” issue, you’re kidding, right? I’m pretty sure His Majesty isn’t losing any sleep worrying about the horrible horrible things Thai Rose is saying about him.
Thorns of the Thai rose
And (s)he will just be considered a fool by most British citizens…
Thorns of the Thai rose
The President of the United States is often called the Leader of the Free World. I know of no other leader from any other country that holds that title. Of course, it is not a real title, but it it is often used to this day. You can look it up.
But let me tell you an un-Thai story. I recall the story from a comedian who worked in the USA. He would tell jokes about then president Ronald Reagan. He would also tell a lot of jokes about one of the colorful gangsters in the town he worked. He had a regular gig, and started to notice some people discreetly sitting in club that didn’t look like the usual patrons of the club. Finally after one show, one of them came up to him and told him that they didn’t appreciate the jokes about their leader (the street gang banger), and told them to stop, with some other gentle “suggestions”.
The comic remarked that he could make jokes about the leader of the free world but not about a common gangster.
Thorns of the Thai rose
“Can british citizen say would like to kick the queen and royal family out of britain then? ”
Yes.
A better bureaucracy?
No, I don’t think so. Unless, you are contemplating a Golkar 2.0 scenario. A manageable bureaucracy would be an achievement in itself. Indonesia is not just Jakarta (Jokowi), nor is it the TNI alone (Prabowo). Those are small subsets of Indonesia’s larger bureaucracy. A better one will be nearly impossible with the endemic corruption that has plagued Indonesia for 70 years. When the Zookeepers are as savage as their captive subjects, what incentives are there for keeping the cages clean, and the subjects, well-fed and well-behaved ? If money and titles alone sufficed, Jakarta would be run as well as Copenhagen.